


Third Wheels

by kcstories



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 7th Year AU, Canon Divergence, Dean Thomas/Seamus Finnigan (mentioned), Falling In Love, Fluff, Getting Together, Ginny Weasley/Neville Longbottom (mentioned), Hogwarts Era, Luna Lovegood/Blaise Zabini (mentioned), M/M, Pansy Parkinson/Gregory Goyle (mentioned), Post-War, Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger (mentioned) - Freeform, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Written Pre-Deathly Hallows, au-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-03-05
Updated: 2007-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-11 12:07:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8979073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcstories/pseuds/kcstories
Summary: This is just like third year all over again, except this time around, it's Harry's choice not to join his two best friends in Hogsmeade.





	

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** The Potterverse is JKR's, not mine.

Standing by the window, Harry lets out a deep sigh.   
  
This is just like third year all over again, except this time around, it's actually his own choice not to join his two best friends in Hogsmeade.   
  
Being the only singleton amidst all these happy couples is becoming increasingly awkward, and he’s starting to feel rather like the third wheel, many times over.   
  
Not that he isn't pleased for Hermione and Ron or Ginny and Neville or Dean and Seamus or even Luna and Blaise Zabini (of all possible people), but still…   
  
He shakes his head, admonishing himself to stop dwelling on the past and to look ahead. After all, the war is over, Voldemort is gone for good, and in just a few months’ time, Harry will be leaving Hogwarts far behind.   
  
He still has his whole life ahead of him, or so they keep saying, and even if he doesn’t yet know what he wants to do with it, on the first of July, he’ll finally be free to do what he wants, and that's the main thing, isn't it?   
  
More or less.   
  
There's something else unsettling his mind too, or rather someone else, though wishes like that are hardly feasible. He shouldn't even go there, because when all is said and done…   
  
_Draco Malfoy?_   
  
The very thought is seven shades of stupid. In fact, he can already hear it now, in his head, that posh drawl mocking him, "Me date you, Potter? Even if was interested in blokes and you were the last one on earth, not bloody likely."   
  
Harry would rather spare himself that kind of humiliation, because honestly, this is bad enough.   
  
Of all the people to have a crush on…   
  
He saw them earlier, engaged in some childish snowball fight: Malfoy, Parkinson and Goyle.   
  
Crabbe's at Durmstrang now, which is kind of odd when Harry considers it, but then so many things _are_ these days.   
  
A lot has changed since the war.   
  
But the point is that Malfoy seemed happy and carefree this morning, whereas Harry himself is nothing of the sort. All he feels is emptiness, a sense of "where to go from here," and a longing for a certain someone who couldn’t possibly fancy him in return.   
  
Not in a million years.   
  
The sound of the clock signals it's time for lunch.   
  
Harry takes a deep, bracing breath, straightens his shoulders, and heads down to the Great Hall.   


* * *

  
  
He's surprised when he spots Malfoy at the Slytherin table, reading.   
  
Harry looks around the Hall. Only a few students haven't taken the opportunity to spend a Saturday away, and most of them are first and second-years who probably forgot to ask their parents to sign the permission slip.   
  
Harry wonders why Malfoy's still here, and then something occurs to him.   
  
They're hardly friends, but it's not like they're still enemies either, strictly speaking.   
  
Making his mind up, he walks over to where Draco is sitting. He clears his throat and when Draco looks up, he asks quietly, "Do you mind if join you?"   
  
With a shrug, Draco answers noncommittally, "It's a free world, Potter. Partly thanks to you, or so I’ve heard."   
  
Harry doesn't know whether to be amused or offended, but since he can't detect any malice in those words, he decides to settle for the former. He takes the seat across from Draco and says, "Why didn't you go with Pansy and Goy--Gregory?"   
  
"To watch them make eyes at each other all afternoon? No thanks. Three's a crowd, you realise."   
  
"Yeah," Harry says, "I do, actually."   
  
Draco closes his book. "Granger and Weasley?" he asks, eyebrows raised in amusement.   
  
"Yeah."   
  
"Took those two long enough, I suppose."   
  
Harry chuckles. "Just be glad you didn't have to suffer through years of their endless bickering."   
  
And soon the two former school rivals are chatting, laughing and having lunch together and it's almost as if they've been doing this for ages.   
  
They talk about their friends, their studies, and even, for the first time ever, the war.   
  
“Mother didn’t want me to turn out like my father, so she relied on Severus for guidance,” Draco says quietly, and Harry supposes he should have guessed that connection a long time ago.   
  
He probably would have done too, had he thought of Draco as an actual person rather than some infuriating prat who was always picking on him and his friends.   
  
The House Elves are starting to clear the tables and the boys realise it has already gone past two.   
  
"I should probably head off," Draco says. "This has been... surprisingly agreeable."   
  
“Yeah.” Harry grins. "It has."   
  
As he watches Draco leave, he can't stop the goofy grin from spreading across his face.   
  
The grin gets even wider when at the door, Draco turns around and nods at him again, a small smile gracing his lips.   


* * *

  
  
The next morning, Harry finds himself standing in the same spot, though his head and heart feel a little lighter this time around.   
  
He wonders where Draco is.   
  
They haven’t spoken since yesterday at lunch, but he has a feeling he might see him again soon.   
  
Soon turns out to be even earlier than he hoped for.   
  
“Potter,” a familiar voice suddenly drawls behind him. “Brooding, are we?”   
  
Harry turns around. “No. Just thinking,” he says with a smile.   
  
Draco takes a few steps closer. “What about?”   
  
Harry nearly blushes. “Just things,” he says.   
  
“Ah. Well. If you’re busy…”   
  
“No,” Harry says quickly. “I’m not.”   
  
“All right, then.” Draco looks hesitant for a moment, but it doesn’t last long. “It would seem that Greg and Pansy have deserted me again," he goes on, "and from the looks of things, Granger and Weasley did the same to you.”   
  
Harry nods. “They’ve gone for a sleigh ride.”   
  
“So. How would you feel about a walk?”   
  
“A walk,” Harry parrots.   
  
“Yes. We could talk like we did yesterday and then come back here for some hot chocolate.”   
  
Harry bites his lip. Is this some kind of date? Does Draco even like boys?   
  
Then again, it _is_ only a walk. Maybe Draco just wants some company? Maybe he’s just bored?   
  
Only one way to find out, Harry decides and opts for the direct approach. If anything, that’ll at least avoid awkward misunderstandings later on.   
  
“Are you asking me out, Malfoy?” He’s grinning when he asks, doing his best to sound casual, but that doesn’t mean he’s any less nervous.   
  
“Would you like me to ask you out, Potter?” is the dry retort, and Harry thinks he should probably have expected something like that, and then suddenly, for the first time in well over a year, the competitive urge is back, and he’s determined not to let Malfoy win this round. So he answers, “Yes,” and hopes it’ll stun the other boy into surrender.   
  
It doesn’t.   
  
All Draco says is, “Very well,” and soon Harry’s eyes widen because Draco is giving him the smuggest of grins.   
  
“Oh.”   
  
“So will you be joining me?” Draco takes another step forward and Harry’s certain he couldn’t get any closer to him even if he tried.   
  
Harry opens his mouth, but no sound will come out so he just nods his head instead.   
  
“Excellent. Go and fetch your cloak, then. And some gloves too. It’s freezing cold out there. Meet me by the north side door in ten minutes.”   
  
Harry nods. He turns around and all but runs up to his dorm.   


* * *

  
  
Chatting amicably, and both still a little surprised at how easy that has become since yesterday, they stroll down to the lake.   
  
It has frozen over completely. Some younger students, Muggleborns probably, are skating on the thick layer of ice, looking like they’re having the time of their lives.   
  
“Draco,” Harry says, stopping in his tracks and taking his companion’s arm. “I was wondering...”   
  
Draco pauses and turns to face him. “Yes?”   
  
“Could we…” Harry releases Draco’s arm again and he starts to fiddle with his gloves as he struggles to find the right words. “Could we do this more often? I mean, I’d really… like to get to know you better. Um, that is, get to know you a second time around, only without…”   
  
“… letting that whole nasty history come between us?”   
  
“Yes.”   
  
Draco smiles. “We could give it a shot, I suppose, though you and I will probably argue even more than Granger and Weasley do if this ever results in anything.”   
  
Harry shrugs. “They seem happy enough,” he supplies.   
  
Which is true, and he also wants to add how Ron and Hermione didn’t start out so differently from the way he and Draco did.   
  
A long time ago, his two best friends couldn’t stand one another either, but of course, they didn’t have a decades of House rivalry, bastards like Lucius or conflicting politics to come between them, so they had a fair chance to move forward.   
  
Harry never gets the opportunity to say anything further, though, because out of the blue, Draco cups his face and gently kisses him on the lips. It’s short and sweet, but it’s still enough to leave Harry giddy.   
  
“Let’s go back,” Draco says softly. “I promised you hot chocolate, didn’t I?”   
  
“Yeah. You did.”   
  
Hand in hand, they return to the castle.   
  
Harry still hasn’t a clue what he wants to do with the rest of his life, but he does hope Draco will be playing a major role in it.


End file.
